; Tips.txt for FST 4.

0 'Tip of the Day'

; FST 4.0 Team, Irmtraud Walter, Friedrich Haase, April 2000
; one line per tip, max 300 characters
Begin with creating a new project. From the menu select 'Project >> New.'
You can convert old FST 3.x projects with STL programs. See the menu 'Extras >>
Convert FST 3.x Projects.'
Go online with your FST controller. From the menu select 'Online >> Online Display'
or 'Online >> Terminal.'
You can switch your project target controller type from one to another. From the
menu select 'Project >> Settings.'
FST now lets you have several open windows for Online Display, STL/LDR Online and
CI Terminal at the same time.
To modify the comment for your project go to menu select 'Project >> Settings.'
You can hide or view the STL/LDR shortcuts. With any STL/LDR window active from the
menu select or deselect 'View >> Shortcut Bar.'
This Tip intentionally left blank :-)
In most windows and even for many items in a window you can display some useful
information. When the window is activated go to the menu 'View >> Properties' or
press the right mouse button and select 'Properties' in the floating menu.
All windows have a floating menu for the most useful tasks. To display the floating
menu press the right mouse button. Some windows show several floating menus
depending on the selected item in the window.
You can save project specific settings for the communication port to use with the
online display and for downloading. From the menu select 'Extras >> Preferences >>
Communication Port' and select the very last check box reading 'Save in Project.'
To use automatically start the project after downloads, go to the menu 'View >>
Controller Settings >> Run Mode.' Select or deselect the check box reading
'Autostart.' Please note, with FST run-time kernel versions prior 2.23 the
AUTOSTART feature will be simulated on downloading.
You can stop and remove the active project on the controller when downloading. With
heavy loaded projects this will result in better downloading performance. From the
menu 'View >> Controller Settings >> Run Mode' select or deselect the check box
reading 'Delete project before download.'
You can activate a password in the controller. This is possible for all
controllers, even w/o retentive storage. Select from the menu 'View >> Controller
Settings >> Password' and fill-in or empty the edit field there. Without retentive
storage the password cannot be changed online.
To change the path to the directory containing your projects go to the menu 'Extras
>> Preferences.' Select the 'General' tab and edit the 'Project Directory' field or
use the 'Browse' button.
To debug your programs you can force input and output bits and words. But don't
forget to clean the force table in the controller. The command to clear the force
table is availble from the floating menu of the Online Display.
FST 4 now saves project source code in a standard ZIP file. You can use e.g.
WinZip(r) to open what FST 4 has created.
The new Message Window not only displays errors but also shows lots of useful
information. You can copy the content or a selected part to the Clipboard.
Compiling, linking and downloading a project are background jobs in FST 4. You may
continue editing and/or viewing online data.
The Online-Display can be handled with the keyboard. Try the tab and arrow keys.
FST 4 handles CFM and CMP depending on the selected controller type (FEC Compact,
FEC Standard, FEC-CPX, HC0X, HC1X, HC2X.) You have to import CFM and CMP for each
controller type separately. This prevents using an imported CFM or CMP for the
"wrong" controller.
To go to a specific operand in one of the Online-Displays select the menu 'Online
>> Goto' or press the right mouse button at a position within the interior of the
Online-Display and select 'Goto Operand' from the floating menu.
You can switch the Online-Display to signed integer, unsigned integer or
hexadecimal. Select the menu 'Online' or press the right mouse button at a position
within the interior of the Online-Display to see the floating menu. Then select one
from 'Signed', 'Unsigned' or 'Hexadecimal.'
To reduce the disk space of "old" projects use the project clean-up from the menu
'Project >> Clean Up.' This will delete all files that FST can reconstruct when
required - e.g. compiled code for existing sources and files prepared for
downloading.
Currently FST 4 does not upload projects which were stored in the controller by FST
3 ('PROJECT.SAV' files.) Please use FST 3 to upload the saved project and
thereafter convert the FST 3 project with STL programs into a FST 4 project.
Newer FST run-time kernels in the controllers (starting with kernel version
2.24.02) have two new CI commands to assist version checking. 'L!' will show the
version including the build number (last digits) and 'LB' will display the build
time of the project in machine and human readable form.
The FST project path and name should not contain any directory/folder names which
are NOT 8.3 compatible. Some MS-DOS configurators have problems with such path
names. So, do not use long names or spaces.
Thank you for using FST 4.